Multimedia, multiuser system and associated methods

ABSTRACT

A table system includes a touch screen integrated in a table top, a computer system in communication with the touch screen, the touch screen being configured to serve as a primary input to the computer and to display multiple active sections at different orientations corresponding to different seating locations on the table top simultaneously, and a secondary screen, located away from the touch screen, in communication with the computer system, the secondary screen being configured to continuously display media files stored on the computer system at a single orientation and to be viewed from the different seating locations simultaneous with use of the touch screen, the touch screen configured to display representations of media files to be displayed on the secondary screen and to serve as selection input for the media files.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/994,458, entitled “MultimediaRestaurant and Booth”, filed on Sep. 20, 2007, and to U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/272,591, entitled “Multimedia, Multiuser Systemand Associated Methods”, filed Oct. 9, 2009, and is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/588,774filed on Oct. 27, 2009, entitled “Multimedia, Multiuser System andAssociated Methods,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/222,670, filed on Aug. 13, 2008, entitled“Multimedia Restaurant System, Booth and Associated Methods,” which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments may be directed to a multimedia, multiuser system and atable therefore, in which at least some of the stations in a settinginclude the table, which controls video and audio inputs for at leasttwo displays.

2. Description of the Related Art

Current systems use an integrated touch screen/display device, i.e., thesame display surface is used to control media filed and to display mediafiles. However, such a system involves numerous compromises inperformance for both the touch screen interface and the display itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments are therefore directed to multimedia, multiuser systemincluding a touch screen, and associated methods, which substantiallyovercome one or more of the disadvantages of the related art.

Embodiments may include a table system having a touch screen integratedin a table top, a computer system in communication with the touchscreen, the touch screen being configured to serve as a primary input tothe computer and to display multiple active sections at differentorientations corresponding to different seating locations on the tabletop simultaneously, and a secondary screen, located away from the touchscreen, in communication with the computer system, the secondary screenbeing configured to continuously display media files stored on thecomputer system at a single orientation and to be viewed from thedifferent seating locations simultaneous with use of the touch screen,the touch screen configured to display representations of media files tobe displayed on the secondary screen and to serve as selection input forthe media files.

The computer system may include a multi-processor computer having atleast a first processor dedicated to display media files on thesecondary screen and at least a second processor, different from thefirst processor, dedicated to the touch screen.

The computer system may be a single computer having a separateprogramming thread for playing media files on the secondary screen, theseparate programming having a higher priority than operations of thetouch screen other than touch detection in order to ensure continuousplaying of media file on the secondary screen.

The computer system may include a first computer directly connected tothe touch screen and a second computer directly connected to thesecondary screen, the media files being stored on the second computer,wherein the first and second computers are in communication. The touchscreen may be configured to serve as the input of the first computer andthe first computer may be configured to serve as the input of the secondcomputer.

Embodiments may include a multiuser, multi-interface computing surface,having a computer system, and a touch screen adapted to serve as aprimary input to the computer system, the touch screen divided into atleast two simultaneously active sections having different orientations,touches in the at least two simultaneously active sections havingindependent effects on a display within the at least two simultaneouslyactive sections, each simultaneously active section having anindependent interface adapted to select independent applications in eachsimultaneously active section.

The touch screen may be integrated into a table top.

The computer system may be configured to perform a first action inresponse to a first touch in a first section of the touch screen, andperform a second action in response to a second touch in a secondsection of the touch screen without affecting the first action, evenwhen the first and second touches are nearly simultaneous. The computersystem may be configured to perform a third action in the first sectionin response to a third touch in the first section of the touch screen,the third action replacing the first action, but not affecting thesecond action.

The first touch may be a gesture and the second touch may be a tap, thetap occurring after the gesture begins but before the gesture iscomplete, the computer system being configured to complete the secondaction before completing the first action

The first action may include navigating a menu and the second action mayinclude a continuous action. The continuous action may include one ofdrawing and playing a game.

An action in response to a touch within a section may be confined tothat section.

The touch screen may include a control section configured to alter anumber of sections displayed on the touch screen.

The touch screen may be configured as a single touch screen.

The computer system may be adapted to be in communication with asecondary screen to be viewed at a same orientation of all users of thetouch screen. The computer system may be adapted to continuously sendmedia files to the secondary screen in response to a selection inputthrough the touch screen. The touch screen may be configured to be usedfor navigation and the secondary screen is configured to display themedia files sent by the computer system.

A touch in a section rotates an orientation of that section. A touch ina section plays a media file in that section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages will become more apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail exemplaryembodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a floor plan of a restaurant system, including aplurality of booths, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2A illustrates a plan view of a booth in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 2B illustrates a partial perspective view of a booth in accordancewith an embodiment;

FIG. 2C illustrates a schematic perspective view of an I/O port inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2D illustrates a schematic sectional view of an I/O port inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of ordering using the table touchscreen of the booth of FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 4A to 4F illustrate examples of menus to be displayed inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate flowcharts for eat lower level menus inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 6A to 6D illustrate an example of a generic item menu of the eatlower level menu in accordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 6E and 6F illustrate an example of a search categories genericitem menu of the eat lower level menu in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a wall display after ordering in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart for the drink lower level menu inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 9A to 9F illustrate examples of a generic item menu of the drinklower level menu in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates a wall display after ordering in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart for the connect lower level menu inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 12A to 12I illustrate an example of a generic item menu of theconnect lower level menu in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 12J illustrates a schematic plan view of a configuration forconnecting user devices to the booth;

FIG. 12K illustrates a schematic relational view of the configuration ofFIG. 12J;

FIG. 12L illustrates a flowchart for a sub-menu of the connect lowerlevel menu;

FIG. 13 illustrates a network system in accordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate variations on the booth of FIG. 2 in accordancewith embodiments;

FIG. 15A illustrates a plan view of a room in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 15B illustrates a side view of the room of FIG. 15A;

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate alternative schematic relational views forthe room of FIGS. 15A and 15B;

FIGS. 17A to 17I illustrate screen shots for different stages of use ofthe connection table in accordance with embodiments; and

FIGS. 18A to 18E illustrate screen shots for different stages of use ofthe point of service display in accordance with embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings; however, they may be embodied indifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

As used herein, the term “user” may refer to either a customer at avenue or a venue employee.

Multimedia Restaurant System Overview

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a multimedia restaurant system 100 may includemultimedia booths 200, conventional tables 120, and individual computerstations 140 arranged in a floor plan. The multimedia restaurant system100 may also include other conventional amenities, e.g., a receptionarea 150, a bar 160, a kitchen/office 170, restrooms 180, and aseparator 190 obscuring a view of the kitchen/office 170 and therestrooms 180 from the remainder of the restaurant.

Multimedia Booths

As illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, each multimedia booth 200 may includea table 210, seating 220, and at least one wall 230. One side 202 or aportion thereof may be open and may serve as an entrance to the booth200. At least one side 204, 206 of the booth 200 may have seating 220,e.g., chairs or benches. Another side 208 of the booth 220 may includethe wall 230 that has a wall display 232 thereon. The wall display 232may be viewable from all positions in the seating 220.

All closed sides, e.g., 204, 206, 208, may be built so that they arehigher than normal restaurant booths and/or have less open space toreduce the sound coming from any locations in the restaurant outside ofthe booth 200, and may be treated with additional known sound proofingand/or audio enhancing techniques. For example, typical heights of backsof the seating stations are between 36-42 inches, while embodimentsenvision increased privacy without being too enclosed and may includehaving heights of backs 222 of the seating 220 greater than about 50inches, e.g., 54 inches. These backs 222 may include the cushioning forthe seating 220. Additionally, a partition 224, e.g., a transparentpartition, may extend upwards from the back 222, e.g., up to theceiling.

Further, closed sides adjacent seating 220, e.g., sides 204, 206, mayinclude speakers 275 associated with each seating therein. Thesespeakers may be designed so that the sound emanating from the speakersmay be louder inside the booth 200 and quieter outside the booth 200,including neighboring booths. Alternatively, the speakers 275 may beincorporated into the seat backs of the seating 220. Alternatively oradditionally, speakers 275 may be above the seating 220, in the ceiling,in the side walls 204, 206, and/or in the wall display 232. The speakers275 may be directional speakers with the sound directed toward locationsnear ears of those seated in seating 220 in the booth 200.

Alternatively, the closed sides, e.g., 204, 206, 209, may haveconventional restaurant heights. The displays in these booths may besolely for visual purposes, e.g., no audio may be output.

The table 210 may be suitable both for eating and interacting withelectronic media, and may include a table display 212, e.g., a touchscreen. Interacting with electronic media may include any of thefollowing: viewing photos on an electronic display, editing photos,viewing videos, editing videos, listening to personal music, orderingfood, obtaining information about food, searching the web, telephoneconferencing, paying for food or other services, video conferencing,playing video games, and so forth. The table display 212 may cover mostof the table 210, as indicated by the outline on the table 210, and/ormay be divided into a plurality of regions, individual positions 214 ato 214 f, e.g., corresponding to seating positions, a central position216 and a host position 218.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, each booth 200 may include two displays,i.e., the table display 212 and the wall display 232. Both displays maybe connected to a booth computer 250. The table display 212 may serve asan input device for the wall display 232. As discussed in detail below,the wall display 232 may display customizable environments. The boothcomputer 250 may include a box containing a processor and othercomponents, e.g., storage devices, graphics cards and I/O ports. such asin typical computers, e.g., a Mac mini® or Mac pro® made by Apple, Inc.The booth computer 250 may include two graphics cards and two videocards for respectively driving the table display 212 and the walldisplay 232. The booth computer 250 may include an amplifier to allowfurther control of audio/video outputs to the wall display 232.Alternatively, the amplifier may be external to the booth computer 250,as discussed below in FIG. 2J. The booth computer 250 may be built intothe wall display 232.

The booth 200 may further include a storage area 260 for a user's deviceand connection jacks to enable direct hard wired connection of theuser's device to the booth computer 250 or the wall display 232. Thestorage area 260 may be a shelf between the end of the table 210 and thewall display 232. For example, the storage area 260 may be a shelf sothe user's device may be stored horizontally or vertically. In the caseof horizontal storage, the shelf may be arranged so the user may use thekeyboard or other input mechanism of the user's device. For example thestorage area 260 may be between 6 inches and 14 inches wide, may be asame height as or higher than the table 210. This makes the storage area260 t wide enough to place a user's device up to the size of a typicallaptop on the storage area 260 to the side of the wall display 232.Additionally or alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, the storagearea 260 may include an access door 262, e.g., a hinged or sliding door,providing access to cables via an I/O port box 240 allowing connectionto the booth computer 250 and/or the wall display 232.

An infrared (IR) transmitter may be connected to the booth computer 250,as discussed below with reference to FIG. 12J. The IR transmitter may behidden from view from the user. The IR transmitter may be storedunderneath the seating stations 220 and located near the booth computer250 so that the IR transmitter may be directly connected to the boothcomputer. The IR transmitter may be controlled by the booth computer 250to send IR signals to the wall display 232 in a manner that emulates theremote control for the wall display 232. The IR transmitter may also beconfigured to send IR signals to the amplifier or the amplifier can beconnected directly to the booth computer. In this manner a user cancontrol functions normally provided by conventional remote controls bytapping the table display. Inputs to the display may be routed to thebooth computer 250 that may operate the IR transmitter to effectivelyoperate as a remote control.

The user I/O port box 240 may be on at least one of a side of the table210, under the table 210, on the wall 200, in the wall 200, on thestorage area 260, or under the storage area 260. As illustrated in FIG.2B, the booth 200 may include more than one I/O port box, e.g., the I/Oport box 240 under the table 210 and the I/O port box 240 under thestorage area 260.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2C and 2D, each user I/O port may include a USBport 244, power outlets 246, and multiple cables, e.g., a VGA cable 247and an Ipod®/Iphone® cable 248, a door 242 covering the multiple cables,and a removable section 243 through which the cables may extend.Additionally or alternatively, each user I/O port box 240 may includeexternal ports for various types memory cards or other storage devices,a digital video interface (DVI) cable, an audio cable, a docking stationfor a laptop, a wireless connection, an Ethernet connection, blue toothor wife, and so forth. When a user's device is connected, thisconnection may allow the laptop to use the wall display 232 as adisplay, but may not connect to the booth computer 250 itself.

Alternatively or additionally, a USB card reader may be an externaldevice that is connected to the booth computer 250. This external USBcard reader may be mounted on the wall near the wall display 232 (e.g.,under the wall display 232 and above the table). This external USB cardreader may be connected to a USB port on the booth computer 250 and mayallow any flash memory, camera memory, thumb drive, and so forth, to beconnected to the booth computer 250.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the table display 212 may include firstthrough sixth individual positions 214 a-214 f. Initially, the tabledisplay 212 and/or the wall display 242 may be in a logo mode, in whicha still logo, a moving logo, nothing (blank screen), video animation ofthe logo, or other still image or video may be displayed. Initially, thetable display 212 may display a single screen over an entire surfacethereof.

Once the table display 212 has been touched in any of the individualpositions 214 a-214 f, that individual position may display an initialmenu mode (IMM). Other individual positions that have not been touchedmay continue to display individual images present in the logo mode, ormay also display the IMM. Additionally or alternatively, touching thehost position 216 may display the IMM in all individual positions.

Alternatively, an entirety of the table display 212 may be centered onthe location of the touch that activates the screen. As a furtheralternative, display of the table display 212 may be re-positioned orre-sized by dragging the window within the table display 212.

The table display 212 may be set in to any of several “functionalmodes.” Functional mode examples include single person mode, two personmode, four person mode, six person mode, full mode, and so forth. Theexamples described above assumed six person seating. In the four personmode, the table display 212 may be divided into quadrants. In two personmode, the table display 212 may be divided into halves, e.g., one regionmay be oriented towards the person on the left side of the table 210 andthe other region to the person on the right side, and so forth. In thefull mode and in the two person mode, a button may be provided to allowrotation of the display. Tapping this rotate button may cause thedisplay to be rotated so that if the person viewing the display is onthe other side, the display can be rotated to the correct orientation,or, if two people are sitting on opposite sides of the table, one personmay rotate their display to show to the other person.

When a region is in IMM, if the table display 212 is not touched withina particular individual region after a short period of time (the IMMtimeout period), then the corresponding region may revert back to thelogo mode. If all regions are in logo mode, then an image or videocovering a large portion or substantially all of the table display 212may be displayed. Otherwise, if at least one region is activated, thenthe regions that are not activated may display the logo mode.

The automatic abandonment of IMM may allow the following operations tobe realized. First, if a user accidentally touches the table display212, the IMM menu may disappear after the IMM timeout period. Second, ifa glass or plate is placed on a region in Logo mode, the correspondingregion may be placed in IMM mode, but after a short period of timerevert back to the logo mode. Third, if a user decides not to enteranything electronically, then their menu will disappear.

The regions not being used may remain in the logo mode. Then, any time aregion in the logo mode is accidentally activated, the region may onlybe activated for the IMM Timeout Period and then revert back to the logomode. This may not the case for lower level menus. For example, if aregion in the IMM is accidentally touched in a position corresponding toa lower level menu, that region of the table display 212 may displaythat lower level menu and the corresponding timeout period may besignificantly longer or non-existent. Every time the screen is “tapped”the computer may interpret such as tap as receiving a mouse click, i.e.,each tap is a click. When a section goes past the timeout period with noclicks it goes in to logo mode. If the table display 212 is in the logomode, the table display 212 may return to a previous section displayed,before going to sleep. Then, if there are no clicks registered for ashort timeout period, the table display 212 may go back to sleep. Thelong timeout period may only be used if the table display 212 wakes upand then there is a click registered that triggers an action. That is,if the click happens outside of any positions corresponding to anaction, the click may be ignored. A click on a position that causes themenu to move or change the table display 212 in some manner may beconsidered an action.

All of the above may assist in providing a user interface that is easyto use and intuitive to understand. Displaying multiple screens at onetime may be confusing to users. Therefore, display of minimalinformation needed to prompt a user for input may be provided.

The table display 212 in the table 210 may allow glasses and dishes tobe placed on it and may be easily cleaned. One such touch screen maysense vibrations in the glass when the glass is tapped. Such a vibrationtable may be thinner than other types of touch screens. However, such atouch screen may have difficulty in distinguishing between a finger tapand a tap that occurs when an object is placed on the screen. However,an object that is placed on the glass and remains on the touch screenwill not continuously trigger the touch screen sensor.

The table 210 may have a hole therein to receive the table display 212,which may be flush with an upper surface of the table 210.Alternatively, the table 210 may be made of a transparent material,e.g., glass. A projector may be placed underneath the table 210 to fromthe table display 212 on the underside of the table 210. The table 210may be a touch screen display, e.g., either single touch or multi-touch.Alternatively, the table display 212 may be mounted in one section ofthe table 210, or a top of the table 210 may be transparent in onesection of the table 210. If the table 210 or a section of the table 210is transparent, then the table display 212 may be projected on to theunderside of the table 210, or a display, e.g., an LCD display may bemounted underneath the table 210 and viewed through the transparenttable 210 or portion thereof.

Any of the above configurations of the table display 212 may allowconventional dining table, e.g., having an upper surface height of about30 to 36 inches, and seating heights to be realized. In other words, aseated user typically will be able to fit their knees under the table.In particular, in accordance with embodiments, a touch screen may beintegrated into a table top or other mount mechanism, and the touchscreen may control media, may allow interaction with others on a table,and may allow objects to be placed thereon, without affecting operationof the touch screen in areas adjacent to the object. For thisapplication, a touch screen with the following characteristics aredesired: thin screen, large area, robust surface, ability to placeobjects on screen and have the screen still function, high displayresolution, high detection resolution, ability to withstand hot and coldtemperature objects, ability to withstand spillage of liquids onsurface, and ability to be used by multiple users simultaneously.

The desire for a large surface area limits many options for thetechnology to be used for the touch screen. For small touch screens(less than about 10 inch diagonal), capacitive technology, e.g.,technology used in the Iphone®, may be employed.

For larger touch screens, the most popular technology employed is basedon disruption of a field between transmitters and receivers placedaround the edges of the touch screen (e.g., LEDs and detectors). Theproblem with this approach is that if an object is placed on such atouch screen, the object blocks the transmit and detect mechanism forthe entire row and column in which the object is located, i.e., theobject disrupts the field and that portion of the touch screen may nolonger be employed. This limits use in an environment where objects,e.g., glasses, cups, plates, etc., are to be placed on the touch table.

Another approach for large touch screens is to use cameras to viewobjects on the table, either from under the table or above. If placedabove the table, then the touch table is not self-contained. This meansthat the table can not be moved without also moving and aligning thecamera. Also, the view from the camera to the table cannot beobstructed. This makes this solution impractical for use in theenvironments described herein. Typically a single camera is used. If asingle camera is used the camera is typically placed a distance from thescreen, further away than the largest dimension of the touch surface.This results in a thickness of the table larger than the thickness ofthe largest dimension of the touch screen active area. Microsoft®Surface® uses multiple cameras and IR transmitters to alleviate thisproblem, resulting in a table thickness of 21 inches or approximately0.7 times the 30 inch diagonal of the touch screen.

One alternative for a touch screen that overcomes one or more of thedisadvantages noted above for previous touch screen/display limitationsis a touch screen using a surface detection scheme rather than the useof a camera. Such a touch screen may be usable in settings where peoplegather to interact, e.g., work, learn, have fun, etc. A touch screen forsuch settings may have one or more of the following features: thinscreen, large area, robust surface, ability to place objects on screenand have the screen still function, high display resolution, highdetection resolution, ability to withstand hot and cold temperatureobjects, ability to withstand spillage of liquids on surface, ability tobe used by multiple users simultaneously, etc.

A thin screen may be desirable for many applications in which the touchscreen is to be integrated into a table top where people can sit andplace their legs underneath. This requires a thickness of table of lessthan 12 inches and preferably less than 8 inches thick.

For example, an ordinary flat panel display may be attached to a flatthin piece of glass (cover glass) to the surface. The electronics forthe touch screen may be in a periphery of the display. The display/covermay be dropped into a table having a corresponding section removed ormay be used with any mechanism to place the touch screen at a desiredheight. “Surface detection” scheme as used herein is to mean a schemethat detects touch location with components located on or near the coverglass. “Sub-surface detection” scheme as used herein is to mean a schemein which the detection mechanism occurs below the top surface of theglass. Examples include acoustic waves, vibration waves, bending waves,etc., that travel within the solid body, e.g., 3M® MicroTouch® systemusing dispersive signal technology (DST). These sub-surface detectionschemes have the advantages of robustness, since conventional highquality glass can be used with electronic detection mechanismsincorporated around the edges underneath. This makes the top surfacevery robust and easily cleaned.

In one embodiment, a surface detection scheme may be used in conjunctionwith a conventional LCD flat panel display, e.g., an NEC MultiSyncLCD3210 having a 32 inch diagonal display with a thickness of 5.5inches. The thickness of the cover glass may be 1.5 inches, making thetotal thickness of the LCD and cover glass sandwich about 7 inchesthick. This unit may be mounted to be flush with the top of the table,so the table thickness is also about 7 inches. In another embodiment, aSamsung 40 inch LCD display is used which is back lit by LEDs and isonly 1.2 inches thick. With this technique the total thickness of thetouch screen table top is only 2.7 inches thick for a 40 inch diagonaldisplay or a ratio of table thickness to touch screen diagonal of 0.07.

In yet another embodiment, the touch screen may be integrated into acoffee table. For example, an NEC 42 inch LCD flat panel display may beused. The total thickness of the touch screen (including the LCD andtouch electronics) was 6.7 inches. The total thickness of the table was19 inches. The ratio of the touch screen thickness to diagonal was 0.16and the ratio of the table thickness to the touch screen diagonal was0.45.

As an alternative to a flat panel display, other displays may be used,e.g., front projection, rear projection, dlp, OLED, other similartechnologies that will form an image from the computer on the touchscreen

In each of the above examples the area of the screen that is displayedis approximately the same as the area that is able to detect touches.That is, the surface detection screen area covers the entire area ornearly the entire area of the image displayed on the touch screen by theLCD display or related projection display.

When the computer used in the table is sufficiently small, e.g., aMacintosh mini, which is only 2 inches in height, the computer may bemounted to the bottom of the table without increasing the tablethickness so as to interfere with seating.

These sub-surface detection schemes provide numerous advantages.However, these sub-surface detection schemes are not inherentlymulti-touch. This makes it difficult to use these technologies formultiple users. In other words, taps on the touch screen generatesignals sequentially. Typically, signals generated may be touchinitiated (or a mouse down click), location of the touch, and touchremoved (or mouse up). In single touch technologies, only one signal isgenerated at a time, as opposed to a true multi-touch screen, in whichmany signals may be transmitted by the touch screen simultaneously tothe computer. With other single touch technologies, for exampleresistive technology, two simultaneous taps produce a tap at a locationmidway between the two points. With sub-surface detection schemes, a tapwill be detected at the correct location, but only either the first orsecond location, i.e., not both.

For this reason, if two touches on the screen occur in quick successionin a sub-surface detection scheme, it is difficult to determine whetherone person has tapped the screen with his finger and moved his finger toanother position, or if two people have tapped the screen. In the firstcase, one action should be performed by the computer, while, in thesecond case, two actions should be preformed.

However, in accordance with embodiment, enhanced single touch operationsmay be realized with a sub-surface detection scheme, such that when twousers touch simultaneously in different sub-screens, only a singlesignal is provided to the computer. One solution may divide the screeninto multiple regions or sub-screens, e.g., four quadrants as shown inFIG. 12J or six sextants as shown in FIG. 2A. If the two taps areperformed in one sub-screen, then the computer may interpret the twotaps as coming from one user. This could be a click and drag or a changein the button that is tapped. In either case one action would beperformed. If the taps occur in two different sub-screens, then thecomputer may interpret these two taps as coming from two different usersand two actions may be performed simultaneously, each within thecorresponding sub-screen.

This becomes especially difficult to manage when two or more users aretapping the screen in different sub-screens and one or more users isperforming a gesture or continuous action, e.g., a click and dragoperation, such as drawing a line in a picture. As used herein, agesture is an action that includes movement in addition to a tap, e.g.,a swipe, drawing of a line, or using two fingers to expand a picture orbox, and so forth. In this case, the touch screen using sub-screendetection will oscillate back and forth between the sub-screens and givemultiple “false” mouse up and mouse down signals. The false signals aredue only to the oscillation of the virtual mouse between the varioussub-screens. To operate in an enhanced single user mode, e.g., thatallows gestures such as drawing to be performed, the software needs torecognize these false mouse up and mouse down signals and reject them.In addition, there will be gaps in a continuous drawing of a line onscreen that occurs when the signals are transferred to the computer fromother sub-screens. However, the software may be designed to recognizethis as a continuous action, by noting that a tap in a differentsub-screen is from a different user. For example, if a click and dragoccurs within a first sub-screen, followed by a click (mouse down) in asecond sub-screen, and then a click and drag in the first sub-screen,the software may interpolate between the two click and drags in thefirst sub-screen. Thus, continuous touch may be performed uninterruptedby a first user while still allowing other users to control the computerto perform additional actions.

For example, if a first user performs a first touch in a firstsub-screen and a second user performs a second touch in a secondsub-screen while the first touch is still being performed, the secondtouch may cause a “gap” in the performance of the first touch. In otherwords, the second touch in the second sub-screen may interrupt the firsttouch. If continuity of the first touch is important, e.g., the firsttouch is drawing; such an interrupt may cause gaps, odd lines, or othererrors. However, by recognizing that the second sub-screen is differentfrom the first sub-screen, the first touch will not be interrupted, eventhough the second touch was performed during the first touch. Thus, thecomputer may be configured to perform an action in response to thesecond touch while not interrupting the first touch.

Additionally, a number of sub-screens may be chosen and changed by theuser. Buttons are placed as in FIG. 2A to change the number of users atthe table. If the 2 user mode is chosen then the screen is divided in totwo sub-screens. It may be advantageous to have a different number ofsub-screens for different scenarios. For example, if six people sit at atable and each wants to order their own food, the screen may be placedin 6 person mode. Then, if they want to view a long list, for example ofmusic videos to play, they can switch to 2 person mode. Some games maybe better suited to 2 person, 4 person or 6 person mode or to a singlescreen mode.

The table display 212 may serve as a control screen for the wall display232. A user may use the table display 212 to determine the images to beshown on the wall display 232. That is, the table display 212 may beused for typing, editing and finding files, moving files, variouscontrol functions, and so forth. The wall display 232 may be used forviewing and displaying images, videos, text, and so forth.Alternatively, multiple users may use the table display 212. Touchscreen controls may be built into both the table display 212 and thewall display 232.

As a further alternative, the table display 212 may be mounted on top ofthe table 210, such that the table 210 does not need to be transparent.Thus, the table display 212 may be mounted vertically, may be a pop-updisplay, or may be built into the top of the table 210.

The table display 212 and the wall display 232 may be electronicdisplays, e.g., LCDs, plasma screens, projection displays or DLPs, i.e.,any display technologies that may be used for flat panel TV's orcomputer monitors.

Booth States

The booth 200 may have a plurality of states associated therewith to aidin the restaurant flow. The states may only be viewable by restaurantstaff, e.g., at a point of service (POS) station. States may beindicated by a number and/or a color: Examples of states may include:

0: Booth ready, no one seated;

1: Customers seated, orders not yet placed

2: Order placed, customers waiting for food;

3: Food delivered, customer not yet paid (at this point, customers mayorder more food, sending state of table back to state 2);

4: Bill delivered, customer not yet paid;

5: Bill paid, customers have yet left; and

6: Customers have left, table not yet cleaned.

If a booth 200 stays in one state for too long, notification may be sentto the responsible server and/or manager, e.g., to their cell phone,pager or personal digital assistant. For example, as long as all statesof the booth 200 have been in a given state for a time duration lessthat a specified practical time, which may vary in accordance with howbusy restaurant is, the particular state the booth is in, etc., thebooth will be OK, e.g., may be “green”. Once a booth has been in a statefor longer than this specified time, the booth may switch to a warningstate, e.g., may be “yellow” state. The yellow state may result innotification to the server. After another specified period in a warningstate, the booth may switch to a critical state, e.g., may be “red”. Thered state may result in notification to the manager. These statdiscussed in detail below with reference to FIGS. 18A to 18E.

When customers are ready to place an order, they may hit a button, e.g.,submit order or call server. This button may be on the table 210separate from the table display 212 or on the wall 208 separate from thewall display 232. Additionally or alternatively, a submit order optionmay be placed on one or more of the menus discussed below, e.g., on themenu in FIG. 4A. Once a server comes by and verifies the order with thecustomers and enters it into the POS, the server may lock the order, asdiscussed with reference to FIG. 4E below. At this point, all theselected items so far would be become part of order 1 for the booth 200and would become uneditable. Selecting an item after this point wouldbecome part of order 2 for the booth 200. Choosing selected items maythen display two lists: order 1 and order 2, with only order 2 beingalterable by the customers. Alternatively, just order 2 may bedisplayed, with an option to view previous order lists.

Mode Overview

The use of the booth 200 generally will be discussed with reference toFIGS. 3-4F. FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of general orderingoperations and FIGS. 4A to 4F illustrate examples of menus to bedisplayed.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the table display 212 may default to the logomode in operation 302. When the table display 212 is touched inoperation 304, a corresponding location of the touch is determined. Ifthe touch is in a position corresponding to a seating, the IMM may beappropriately displayed. If the touch is in a location other than aposition, e.g., host or central, other menus may be displayed asdiscussed below. Then, in operation 310, occurrence of another touch ismonitored. If another touch corresponds to selection of a lower levelmenu, the operation proceeds to the appropriate lower level in operation312. If no touch is sensed, then the operation may proceed to operation314 to determine whether a time out period has expired. If not, theoperation may return to operation 310 to determine if another touch issensed. If the time out period has expired, the operation may return tothe logo mode of operation 302.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of an IMM. In the IMM of FIG. 4A, theoptions “eat”, “drink” and “connect” may be presented. Further, “ready”and “?” may be provided in a separate portion of the menu from the threemain options. When users have a question, they may hit the “?”, whichmay remotely indicate to the assigned server that the booth 200 has aquestion or may visually indicated on the wall display 232 that thebooth 200 has a question. For example, the wall display 232 may display,in a bottom portion thereof, a seat indicator for each position in thebooth 200, as illustrated in FIG. 7. For example, these seat # mayinitially all be red, indicating there is no need to bother thecustomers in the booth 200. When “?” is selected by a customer, thatseat # or all seat # may change to yellow, indicating assistance isrequested. When “ready” is selected by a customer, that seat # or allseat # may change to green, indicating readiness to order. Use of visualcues on the wall display may allow any restaurant worker to attend tothat booth 200.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example of an eat lower level menu. FIG. 4Cillustrates an example of a drink lower level menu. FIG. 4D illustratesan example of a connect lower level menu. In all FIGS. 4A to 4D, theback arrow will return the display to a previous page, e.g., IMM for thelower level menus and the logo mode from the IMM. These lower levelmenus will be described in detail below.

FIG. 4E illustrates an example of a host menu appearing when the hostposition 218 is touched. The host menu may be protected to only allowrestaurant workers access. When the host touches this location variousbuttons may be displayed near the edge of the table 210, as illustratedin FIG. 4E, such as reset, # persons functional mode, rotate, placeorder and clear cache. The rotate button may allow rotation of theorientation of the menus to either side or to the end of the table 210.The reset button may erase any files that were copied onto a hard driveof the booth computer 250 during the session, sets the screen mode tologo mode, erases any food items selected and prepares the table 210 forthe next customers. The place order button may allow the server to sendthe order to the kitchen for processing. The clear cache button may onlyerase all files copied onto the hard drive of the booth computer 250.

FIG. 4F illustrates an example of a central position menu, indicatinghow items may be displayed using the central position. In the particularexample shown in FIG. 4F, images displayed in various seating positionsmay be dragged to the central position 216 to be displayed there and maybe clicked again to display this image on the wall display 232.

Eat Mode

Once a corresponding category of the eat lower level menu of FIG. 4B hasbeen touched, a sub-menu corresponding to that category may appear, asillustrated in FIGS. 5A to 7. FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate flowcharts forthe eat lower level menu. FIGS. 6A to 6F illustrates examples of eatsub-menus to be displayed. FIG. 7 illustrates the wall display 232 aftercompletion of the operation in FIG. 5A.

As illustrated in FIG. 5A, in operation 510, a category in the eat lowerlevel is selected in operation 520. This may result in the sub-menu ofFIG. 6A being displayed. As can be seen therein, “select” and “info”buttons may be next to each item Dish1 to Dishm, allowing each item tobe selected or more information about each dish may be retrieved. Also,the ordered items may be listed on a bottom portion of the table display212. Further, the ordered items may be displayed on the wall display232, as illustrated in FIG. 7. If there are too many items to display atonce, only some of these items may be displayed and up/down scrollbutton may be provided adjacent the list.

When an item is selected in operation 522, that item may be highlightedand added to the ordered items, as illustrated in FIG. 6B. Wheninformation about an item is selected in operation 524, the individualinformation for that item, here Dish3, may be displayed as shown in FIG.6C. An image of that item may also be displayed. The individualinformation may include nutrition and ingredients, which, when touched,will display the corresponding detailed information. In addition,quantity ordered may be displayed on this screen along with buttons toincrease or decrease the quantity ordered.

Alternatively, selecting a single item may cause that particular item tobe highlighted, and select and info buttons, not originally displayed,to appear adjacent that item, e.g., next to the item or below it,thereby simplifying the initial sub-menu display. In addition, a shortdescription for each item may be displayed. This may cause other itemson the screen to shift position in order for all of this additionalinformation to be displayed for the selected item. Then, if the selectbutton is tapped, the item would be added to the selected items list andthe screen may revert back to a list of the items, i.e., removal of theselect and info buttons. When the info button is tapped, then a screensimilar to that of FIG. 6C could be displayed as described below.

When the back button is touched in operation 526, the previoussub-menu/menu may be displayed. For example, when the back button istouched in the display may switch from the display of FIG. 6C back tothe tapas sub-menu in FIG. 6B. When the back button is touched when thetapas sub-menu in FIG. 6A or 6B, the display may return to the eat lowerlevel menu of FIG. 4B. Alternatively or additionally, a home button maybe provided to return the display to the IMM of FIG. 4A.

The other menu category displays may function in a similar manner. Whenselected items is touched, all items ordered from that position and/orall items ordered by the table and corresponding quantity ordered may bedisplayed, as illustrated in FIG. 6D. The quantity may be altered onthis display by touching the up/down buttons therein.

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, when the search by category is touched,another sub-menu of available searches may appear, as illustrated inFIG. 6E. Such available search options may include New, Specials, Top 5,cuisine, Dietary, and so forth. Touching one of these may display alist, as illustrated in FIG. 6F when Top 5 is selected, which may allowthe corresponding dishes to be selected or for more information to beobtained. The Top 5 may include the top 5 highest rated, top 5 mostfrequently ordered, etc., and may be updated in real time.Alternatively, when a more detailed search category, e.g., cuisine ordietary, is selected, an intermediate display of the varioussub-categories may be displayed before a corresponding display of items.For example, touching cuisine may display vegetarian, seafood, spicy,Italian, Caribbean, Spanish, South American, Asian, fusion, and soforth. Touching dietary may display vegetarian, vegan, low fat, lowcarbohydrate, low calorie, and so forth.

Drink Mode

Once a corresponding category of the drink lower level menu of FIG. 4Chas been touched, a sub-menu corresponding to that category may appear,as illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10. FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart for thedrink lower level menu. FIGS. 9A to 9F illustrates examples of drinksub-menus to be displayed. FIG. 10 illustrates the wall display 232after completion of the operation in FIG. 8.

In operation 810, a category in the drink lower level may be selected inoperation 820. This may result in a generic drink sub-menu of FIG. 9Abeing displayed. As can be seen therein, “select” and “info” buttons maybe next to each item Drink1 to Drinkk, allowing each item to be selectedor more information about each dish may be retrieved. Also, the ordereditems may be listed on a bottom portion of the table display 212 (notshown). Further, the ordered items may be displayed on the wall display232, as illustrated in FIG. 10. If there are too many items to displayat once, only some of these items may be displayed and up/down scrollbutton may be provided adjacent the list.

When an item is selected in operation 822, that item may be highlightedand added to the ordered items, as illustrated in FIG. 9B. Wheninformation about an item is selected in operation 824, individualinformation for that item, here Drink 1, may be displayed as shown inFIG. 9C. An image of that item may also be displayed. The individualinformation include alcohol percentage, calories, a description ofbeverage, may give history of the beverage. A “video” button may beprovided on this menu for a video, e.g., a video supplied by thebeverage manufacturer.

The drink sub-menu may include “recommend”. When a user touchesrecommend in operation 826, the recommend page may be displayed. Thispage may recommend a drink according to dish(es) ordered. For examplethe recommend page may display more than one drink; here three drinks asillustrated in FIG. 9D, within that category. A “select”, “info” and“why” button may be provided next to each drink. The “why” button mayexplain why that drink was recommended. For example, any time aparticular dish is ordered, several beverages may be recommended. Datafor orders may be tracked at the restaurant. Any time a gazpacho isordered, the most drink in that category also ordered by the same personor table at the same sitting may be stored and displayed, drinks basedon expert opinions may be displayed, surveys may be performed to askcustomers how well they like particular beverages with particular fooditems, and so forth.

In any of the above cases, for each food item ordered, several beveragesmay be identified or a beverage suitable for all food items ordered maybe displayed. Each beverage may be given a “score.” The score may be +1or 0. When all food items are ordered, the Eat menu may display a buttonfor wine recommendations. If this button is pressed, the menu may listthe wine recommendations as described above in order from highest tolowest score.

Alternatively, several of the above methods may be used to determine therecommended beverages. For example, the recommend page may list drinksas recommended by the chef, most ordered, highest ranked, by otherexperts, type, and so forth, as illustrated in FIG. 9E. In addition, therecommendation page may also include a “refine recommendation” button tonarrow or change choices or options. For example, if several drinks aredisplayed on the recommendation page, the “refine recommendations”button may be touched to limit the drinks to particular preferences,e.g., wines may be limited to red, white, sweet, dry, French,Australian, etc., beers may be limited to hoppy, less hoppy, dark,wheat, German, British, etc.

When the back button is touched in operation 826, the previoussub-menu/menu may be displayed. For example, when the back button istouched in the display may switch from the display of FIG. 9C back tothe beer sub-menu in FIG. 9B. When the back button is touched when thebeer sub-menu in FIG. 9A or 9B, the display may return to the drinklower level menu of FIG. 4C. Alternatively or additionally, a homebutton may be provided to return the display to the IMM of FIG. 4A.

The other menu category displays may function in a similar manner. Whenselected items is touched, all items ordered from that position and/orall items ordered by the table and corresponding quantity ordered may bedisplayed on the table display, as illustrated in FIG. 9F and/or on thewall display 232, as illustrated in FIG. 10. The quantity may be alteredon this display by touching the up/down buttons therein.

Order Processing

When customers order food or drinks, the order may go directly to thekitchen, i.e. the table serves as the point of service (POS).Alternatively, the order may be displayed on a computer and manuallyentered into the POS by the server and then sent to the kitchen.Alternatively, the table computer may send the order directly to thePOS. Then, the server may view the order and send the order to thekitchen through the POS. This final option provides an advantage in thatthe server has ability to send only a portion of the items ordered at atime and check to make sure the items are correct. Alternatively, aseparate computer that receives inputs whenever anyone places an orderat a table may be used, as will be discussed in detail below withreference to FIGS. 18A to 18E.

Connect Mode

Once a corresponding category of the connect lower level menu of FIG. 4Dhas been touched, a sub-menu corresponding to that category may appear,as illustrated in FIGS. 11 to 12L. FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart forthe connect lower level menu. FIGS. 12A to 12I illustrate examples ofdrink sub-menus to be displayed. FIG. 12J and 12K illustrate an exampleof a layout for realizing connection of user devices with the booth 200FIG. 12L illustrates a flowchart for one of the sub-menus.

Selecting “community” in operation 1110, may bring up a number of local,e.g., within walking distance, options for additional activities, asillustrated in FIG. 12A. Such activities may include movies, retailstores, other restaurants, theaters, museums, and other events.Selecting any one of these activities may display available associatedevents, as illustrated in FIG. 12B. “Select” may allow a correspondingpurchase of that event to be transacted, where appropriate, e.g., movie,theater or museum tickets, may allow a reservation or addition to a waitlist to be entered, e.g., in another restaurant, and/or may display amap providing location of that activity. “Info” may display theinformation as illustrated in FIG. 12C. Such information may includehours, description, which may include location, menus, reviews, andcurrent information. Such current information may include any specialoffers, daily specials, current wait time, current availability, etc.

As a particular example, selecting movies may provide a selection ofmovies playing at nearby theaters. Selecting info and then descriptionmay play a trailer and selecting hours may show times at each theater.Selecting select may provide options to order or purchase tickets forspecific show times.

As another example, selecting restaurants may bring up a list of nearbyrestaurants. Selecting “info” and then description may display the menu.Selecting “info” and then “current” may indicate availability/currentwait time. Selecting “select” may allow for ordering food items for pickup, delivery or for eating in at the nearby restaurant, for making areservation at the nearby restaurant.

Selecting retail stores may display a list of nearby retail stores.Touching “info” connected with an individual store may displayinformation about the store.

Touching “surroundings” in FIG. 4D may display the menu indicated inFIG. 12D, which may include “lighting”, “virtual windows” and “music forvirtual windows.” Touching “lighting” may allow control of brightnessand/or color of ambient lighting in the booth. Touching “virtualwindows” may result in display of FIG. 12E, in which an ambientenvironment may be selected for the booth to be displayed on the walldisplay, e.g., moon, ocean, Paris, Half Dome, Venice, and so forth.These may be still images or video. Touching “virtual music” may allowmusic appropriate for the selected “virtual window” to be played, andmay default to the general restaurant music if no “virtual window” hasbeen selected.

Touching “entertainment” may produce a display as illustrated in FIG.12F. Entertainment options for the booth may include, e.g.,“television,” “music,” “social network,” “games,” and “video.” Touchingone of these options may display more detailed options. For example,touching “music,” may allow provide a display as illustrated in FIG. 12Gand may include browse genres, playlists, search collection, satelliteradio, purchase new, and so forth.

Selecting “My Devices” may bring up a menu as illustrated in FIG. 12H,e.g., displaying computer, music, photos, video, and so forth. If a userplugs in any devices into the USB port or the SIM card port or firewireport (for example cameras, flash thumb drives, SIM cards or other memorydevices) any recognizable files may be immediately copied onto the boothcomputer 250. Recognizable files may include photos with standardformats (e.g. jpeg or tiff), videos with standard formats (e.g. mpeg,mov), and music with standard formats (e.g. way or mp3). After copyingthese files, the booth computer 250 may immediately eject the USBstorage device, allowing users to unplug their devices soon after theyinsert them, without causing damage to their devices or interruptingoperation of the booth computer 250.

Selecting any of music, video, photos or presentation may bring up alist of the corresponding media files. For example, selecting photos maybring up a list of the photos that have been copied on to the booth harddrive. The list may be displayed in a “flow” mode so that large versionsof each photo may be displayed in the front and smaller versions oneither side. Two quick touches on a large photo in the center may causethe photo to be displayed on the wall display 232. A single touch anddrag may allow other photos to be placed in the center large photoposition. Once in the center large photo position, a single touch maydisplay on the wall display 232. Alternatively, photos dragged off ofthe table display 212 in the direction of the wall display 232 could bedisplayed on the wall display 232. Additionally, a print option may beprovided for the photos. This printing may be occur remotely, so thatthe restaurant may control and charge for the printing.

Users may connect their own devices to the wall display 232 and/or thebooth computer 250. This may be done through a docking station, cables,and so forth, or the user may select “my devices” and then select theparticular device to be connected from the “my devices” menu, asillustrated in FIG. 12H. If the device is not connected at this point,then table display 212 may list instructions for connecting a cable tothe user's device, as illustrated in FIG. 12I. This cable may be locatedon the storage portion 260 next to the wall display 232 or in a cabinet262 in the wall behind a sliding door. For example, when the user'sdevice is a laptop, one of end of this cable may be connected to thewall display 232, while the other end would be available to attach tothe user's laptop, as illustrated above in connection with FIGS. 2C and2D.

For example, if the wall display 232 is an LCD flat screen TV, the cablemay be an RGB video cable. One end of the RGB video cable may beattached before hand to one of the video inputs of the wall display 232,e.g., Video 2 input. Another video input may be attached to thecomputer, e.g., Video 1 input.

An example of a layout for the interconnection of my devices with thebooth 200 is illustrated in FIGS. 12J and 12K. As shown therein, thebooth 200 may include the booth computer 250 under one of the seatingstations 220, here a bench. An amplifier 270 and an IR transmitter 280may also under this seating station. The I/O port box 240 may be locatedin the wall, e.g., under the storage portion 260, and cables extendingtherefrom may be accessible via the door 262.

As illustrated in FIG. 12K, the wall display 232 may receive outputsfrom the amplifier 270, the booth computer 250, and the I/O port box240. The I/O port box 240 may include, e.g., a VGA cable, anIphone®/Ipod® cable, an audio cable, and so forth, for connecting theuser's devices to the booth 200. The I/O port box may also include a USBmulti-device box that may be connected to the booth computer 250. Thetable display 212 may be in communication with the booth computer 250.The amplifier 270 may receive outputs from the booth computer 250 andthe I/O port box 240. Additionally, an A/V switch 290 from an externalsource, e.g., satellite or cable, may further provide outputs, e.g., avideo output to the wall display 232 and an audio output to theamplifier 270. The A/V switch 290 may be at a central location and maybe used for multiple booths. The IR transmitter 280 may be used by thebooth computer 250 to enable a user to send signals to control anyinputs for the wall display 232 or the amplifier 270.

Once the cable is connected to the user's device, the user may tap abutton on the table display 212, e.g., the toggle button in FIG. 12I, toindicate that their device is connected. For example, when the user'sdevice is a laptop, the booth computer 250 may be signaled to change theview on the wall display 232 to the Video 1 input. The IR transmitter280 may be controlled by the booth computer 250 to act as a remotecontrol and switch the input on the wall display 232 to the video 1input connected through a cable provided in the booth 200, e.g., a VGAcable shown in FIG. 12K, thereby displaying the contents on the user'slaptop on the wall display 232. The toggle button may be tapped again tochange the video input to the wall display 232 back to the video outputcoming from the booth computer 250.

This method allows users to connect laptops to the multimedia booth,without actually connecting their laptop to the booth computer 250. Thismay reduce security issues associated with direct computer to computercommunication. Also, it allows displaying of information on personallaptops of specialized programs that may not be available on the boothcomputer 250.

Additionally, user's devices other than a laptop, e.g., USB fobs, mp3players, and so forth, may also be directly connected to the boothcomputer 250. For some devices, e.g., those that may play readilywithout delay from the device itself, the files may not be copied ontothe booth computer 250.

Further, when the audio signal runs through the amplifier 270, the audioand video may be totally separate. In other words, various video signalsmay be layered with various audio signals.

Selecting “other tables” may allow sending messages to other tables inthe restaurant. Further, cameras may be placed at each table 210 toallow sending or viewing images at other tables.

Selecting “my $0.02” may continue to a flowchart as illustrated in FIG.12H. This display, for example, “preferences,” “recommend,” “history,”“registered,” “survey,” and so forth. Touching preferences may allow auser to enter personal preferences regarding, for example, “eat”,“drink” “entertainment”, “surroundings.” If the user is not registered,these may only be stored for this dining session. “recommend” may alloweither “general” or “personal” recommendations, either of which may thendisplay for example, “eat”, “drink” “entertainment”, “surroundings.”When “general” is selected, most popular items in the respectivecategories may be listed. When “personal” is selected, items in therespective categories may be listed in accordance with currently enteredpreferences or stored preferences, if the user is registered.Alternatively or additionally, when “personal” is selected, a user mayenter a comparative mode and may enter a favorite item in this oranother restaurant and get recommendations for this or anotherrestaurant based on that information. Alternatively or additionally,when “personal” is selected, either an individual mode or a “friends”mode may be selected, allowing recommendations based on input fromfriends. These “friends” may be automatically associated with aregistered user whenever another registered user dines with them, or maybe actively allowed by an individual user.

Thus, such recommendations may include personalized recommendations,i.e., based on the individual's past behavior, social recommendations,i.e., based on the past behavior of similar users, and/or itemrecommendation, i.e., based on the thing selected.

When “history” is selected, similar categories, for example, “eat”,“drink” “entertainment”, “surroundings” may be displayed. Thesecategories may display current session history, or, if the user isregistered, may display overall history.

When “registered” is selected, a user may touch “yes” or “no.” If “yes,”the user will be prompted to enter a user name and password. If “no”,the user may select whether to register or not. If “no”, the user maystill enter a user name for use in the current session to personalizethe experience. If “yes”, the user will be prompted to create a username and password. Alternatively or additionally, the booth 200 mayinclude a card reader, e.g., magnetic or radio frequency, a 1D or 2Dbarcode scanner, or an ID camera may be positioned under the table toallow a user's identity to be determined from a source, e.g., a creditcard, driver's license, passport, frequent diner card, and so forth.These identification mechanisms may also be used for payments. The useof cards may allow the “registered” option to disappear from the my$0.02 sub-menu.

When “survey” is selected, a number of available surveys may bepresented. The user may select for the survey to be anonymous, or, ifregistered, may link their user information. Such surveys may includethis restaurant's food, drink, atmosphere, etc., local restaurants'food, drink, atmosphere, etc., or any of the community or entertainmentoptions available.

Restaurant Wide Connectivity

As illustrated in FIG. 13, each booth computer 250 may be connected tothe A/V switch 290 and a restaurant server 1300, which may be centrallylocated within the restaurant. All audio signals may be supplied fromvarious sources (e.g., the A/V switch 290, user devices via the I/O portbox 240, the booth computer 259, and so forth) to amplifiers 270 in eachbooth 200 on an individual basis. All video signals may be supplied fromthe various sources to the wall display 232. The server 1300 may also beconnected to wait stations/kitchen to forward information entered fromeach booth to the wait staff. Further, the restaurant server 1300 mayinsure a minimum amount of money is spent in each booth for a particularduration of use. For example, the first half an hour may be free. Beforethe end of this half hour, an initial inquiry as to whether thecustomers are ready to order or not may be made. If not, then an amountof time remaining may appear and count down on either one or both of thedisplays. After this initial time period is up and no order orindication of readiness to order has occurred, the electronics for thatbooth may be shut down. The timer may be invisible to the customersuntil the issue of payment for use of the booth needs to be raised.

Camera

As also illustrated in FIG. 13, one or more cameras 600 may be used inconnection with the touch screen 212. The camera 600 may be a web camerathat is physically connected to the table computer 250 associated withthe touch screen 212. The touch screen 212 may then be used to takephotos with this camera as in a photo booth application.

Alternatively, the camera 600 may have wireless capability. Such acamera may be used to send live pictures to the computer in real time.This may be achieved using a wireless memory card, e.g., an Eye-Fi®wireless memory card. Photos from the wireless camera may be designed todirectly download in to the computer 250 in the booth. A specific cameramay be tied to a specific location on the computer or on anothercomputer.

For example the wireless capability may include a wireless transmittercard and a wireless receiver card that are frequency matched. Thewireless transmitter card may be placed in any camera that accepts thecards format, e.g., an SD card. The wireless receiver card may be a USBcard that can be placed in the USB drive of the table computer 250. Thiswireless receiver card may then be configured so that the imagesreceived from the camera 250 may be placed in a particular folder on thetable computer.

A software program may then be used to monitor the contents of thisfolder and display all the pictures in this folder as icons on the touchscreen. Selecting an icon for a given picture may then cause thecomputer to display this photo on the secondary screen.

Alternatively, multiple cameras 600 may be used, with each camerasending pictures to different locations. For example, if there are threeconnection tables 210 are used, each table may have its own portablecamera with a different wireless SD card. Each SD card may have adifferent receiver card. Each of the three receiver cards may beinserted in to the USB drives of table computers 250 located at eachconnection table 220. Each table 220 may then be given access to threefolders, each folder corresponding to the camera for each table 220.Selecting table 1 from a menu file would allow the users to access thephotos from the camera used by table 1 in the manner described above.Similarly, selecting table 2 would allow the users to access the photosused by the users at table 2.

Alternative Booth Configurations

The booths may be configured in numerous layouts in addition to thatillustrated FIG. 2. Alternative examples are illustrated in FIGS. 14A to14C.

In an embodiment FIG. 14A, the entrance to a booth 200A is on the sideof the booth 200A, providing more privacy for the customers in the booth200A. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 14A, a touch display 212A may be aseparate portable unit that is used at a table 210A, and may be used byany of the users at the restaurant booth. Seating 220A may be on threesides of the table 210A.

In an embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 14B, a booth 200B may be designedfor a smaller number of patrons, e.g., one or two people, and a longerside of a table 210B may be against a wall having the wall display 232B.The seating 220B may be provided on only one side of the table 210B.This configuration may provide all or most of the customers view thewall display 232B directly across from them (without having to turntheir head as in FIGS. 2 and 14A).

Alternatively, in any of the embodiments mentioned above, the boothand/or table can be curved to provide better viewing angles. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 14C, a booth 200C may be curved to allowmore customers better viewing angles of the wall display 232. In otherwords, any or all of the booth 200C, seating, 220C, a table 210C and atable display 212C may be curved in such a manner as to allow customersto sit and look at the wall display 232 without having to turn theirheads and or bodies as much as in a conventional rectangular shapedrestaurant booth.

Single Display Booths

While the above discussion assumes that both the table display 212 andthe wall display 232 are present in the booth 200, booths may also beconfigured having only the table display 212 or the wall display 232.

For example, if only the table display 212 is employed, images thatwould have been displayed on the wall display may be displayed on atleast one sub-screen of the table display. For example, in FIG. 2A,sections of the table display labeled positions 3 to 6 may be used asdescribed above regarding the table display 212. However, positions 1and 2 may be used to display images (either still or video) similar tothat which was displayed on the wall display previously.

For example, a user may attach a memory device, e.g., an usb flash driveor an SD card, to a port attached to the booth 200. The photos in thisdevice may then be copied on to the hard drive in the booth computer250. These photos may then be viewed in positions 3 to 6 in “flow” modeas described above or other modes that allow viewing of multiple photoswithin a given section. Each photo may be represented as text or as animage that is smaller than the sub-screen. For example, a first user maybe viewing multiple small photos in position 3 and a second user may beviewing photos in position 4. Images on the table display 212 that aredragged in to the sub-screens of the table display corresponding topositions 1 and 2 may be displayed in a large format over the entiresection. Alternatively, any image moved to position 1 or position 2 maybe display in both of these positions, with two different orientations,corresponding to the viewing positions for these two locations. Tappingon a small icon of an image in positions 3 to 6 may result in displayingthe image in positions 1 and 2 with the two different orientations.Images may be dragged into a folder. Dragging this folder to position 1or position 2, or double tapping on this folder, may cause a slide showto be displayed in position 1 and position 2. Changing the functionalmode to a single user may cause the slide show to be displayed over theentire table display 212.

Alternatively, if only the wall display 232 is employed, the electronicmenus provided on the table screen 212 may now be provided on the wallscreen 232. The wall screen 232 may be controlled by a device, e.g., theremote control 285, illustrated in FIG. 12J, rather than the tabledisplay 212. This device may also allow sources of the audio/videoinformation to be controlled.

Room Configurations

Alternatively or additionally to displays for the booth 220, theconnection table 210 may be used to drive displays and/or audio for anentire room, whether an entire venue or a sub-venue, e.g., a privateroom. FIG. 15A illustrates a plan view and FIG. 15B illustrates a sideview of a room 300 having such a configuration according to anembodiment.

As illustrated in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the room 300 may include aconnection table 310 having a touch screen 312, at least two seatingareas, here curved couches 320, two wall displays 330, and a connectioncomputer 350 connected to the connection table 310, the wall displays330, and speakers 335. A conventional table 315 may be provided forseating areas that are not adjacent to the connection table 310. Whiletwo curved couches are illustrated, any desired seating configurationmay be employed. Further, while the two wall displays 330 and pairs ofspeakers 335 are illustrated as being an opposite sides of the room 300,more than two wall displays 300 and/or pairs of speakers 335 may beemployed and/or in different positions.

As illustrated in FIG. 16A, the room 300 may be configured to allow theconnection table 310 to control the wall displays 330 and the speakers335. In particular, the wall displays 330 may receive outputs from theconnection computer 350 and an I/O port box 340. The speakers 335 mayreceive outputs from an amplifier 370. The I/O port box 340 may include,e.g., a VGA cable, an Iphone®/Ipod® cable, an audio cable, and so forth,for connecting the user's devices to the connection table 310. The I/Oport box 340 may also include a USB multi-device box that may beconnected to the connection computer 350. The table touch screen 312 maybe in communication with the connection computer 350. The amplifier 370may receive outputs from the connection computer 350 and the I/O portbox 340, including the audio cable and the audio portion of the anIphone®/Ipod® cable. Additionally, an A/V switch 390 from an externalsource, e.g., satellite or cable, may further provide outputs, e.g., avideo output to the wall displays 330 and an audio output to theamplifier 370. An IR transmitter 380 may be used by the connectioncomputer 350 to enable a user to send signals to control any inputs forthe wall displays 330 or the amplifier 370.

When displaying television channels on the secondary screens, severaloptions are available. One option is to use a dedicated receiver foreach electronic table. Alternatively, multiple receivers may be used,where the number of receivers is less than the total number of displaysin the venue. These receivers may be satellite or cable or otherreceivers that obtain signals from an outside source. The receivers maybe connected to the AV box (matrix switch) 290 (shown in FIG. 13). Anoutput from the AV box 290 may go to each connection booth 310 in thevenue, where the output may be displayed on the secondary screen.Outputs from the AV box 290 may also be connected to other displays inthe venue. For example, a venue may have 4-6 electronic tables and 5-10additional screens located at various places throughout the venue thatare visible to a number of tables.

The computer 350 may display a list of the available television channelson the touch screen 312 when a user selects the appropriate button(e.g., one marked television). In some cases it may be desirable todisplay the name of the television channel on the touch screen or thecontent being broadcast at the particular time that it is being viewed.

It may be desirable to display a continuous full motion video on thewall displays 330. However, this may be difficult when using the samecomputer for both the wall displays 330 and the touch screen 312, as agreat deal of processing power may be needed to drive the touch screen312. This difficultly may be increased if the touch screen 312 and/orwall screens 330 have a high resolution and/or if the touch screen 312is receiving inputs from multiple users.

One solution using the single computer 350 includes using a separateprogramming thread dedicated to driving the secondary screen. Thisthread is given a very high priority. Any operation on the touch screen312 that may take a significant amount of processing time is given lowerpriority than the one for the wall displays 330. However, detection of atap on the touch screen 312, which does not take a lot of processortime, may not be given a lower priority, since if taps are not detectedwithin a fraction of a second of when they occur, the touch screen 312may not function properly. Alternatively, the computer 350 may be amulti-processor computer having one processor dedicated to driving thewall displays 330.

An alternative to having a single connection computer 350 includesproviding two computer 352, 354, i.e., a first computer 352 for thetouch screen 312 and a second computer 354 for the wall display 330, asillustrated in FIG. 16B. The first computer 352 may be located near thesecondary screen or integrated with the touch screen 312, e.g., thefirst computer 352 may be located inside the table or under a bench oron the underside of the table, etc., and may be directly connected tothe touch screen. The second computer 354 may be located near, e.g.,behind, the secondary screen 330 and may be directly connected to thesecondary screen. The first and second computer 352, 354 may beconnected, e.g., through the Ethernet, through a wireless router, orthrough a dedicated connection, as indicated by the dashed line betweenthe first and second computers. Media files to be played on thesecondary screen 330 may be stored on the second computer 354.

For example, consider displaying of music videos. When the music videosare stored on the second computer 354, the second computer 354 mayinitially send the first computer 352 thumbnails of images andassociated text, e.g., names of the songs, albums, bands, composers, andso forth, to the first computer 352, which may store this information.When a user taps music videos on the touch screen 312, a list of musicvideos, along with some or all of the information stored in the firstcomputer 352 may be displayed on the touch screen 312. When a user tapsa thumbnail of a particular song, a signal may be sent from the firstcomputer 352 to the second computer 354 to start playing the musicvideos from the particular folder and from the particular music videoselected.

The central computer 1300 of FIG. 13 may be used to determine channelsettings for each receiver. This may be automated or may be performed bya manager of the venue. For example, for a sports bar, the manager mayprogram each receiver to display a different sporting event. The centralcomputer 1300 may be connected to the satellite receivers, e.g., byethernet or by infrared connections, to change the channel of eachreceiver to the desired channels. This information may be sent to thecomputer 250, 350 located at each connection table 210, 310. In thismanner, the computer 350 may display the channel on the touch screen212, 312. In addition, the central computer 1300 (or the computer 250,350 at each connection table 210, 310) may contact a website thatreturns the content being played on each channel at a given time and maystore this information and/or send it to each connection table 310. Inthis manner, the computer 250, 350 at each connection table 210, 310 maydisplay the content being broadcast on each channel on the touch screen212, 312. For example, the touch screen 212, 312 may display a list ofthe sporting events being shown on each receiver at the current time.Choosing a sporting event would then cause the computer 250, 350 to senda signal to the AV box 290 to send the appropriate input to thesecondary screen 232, 330 at the corresponding table.

In this manner, the secondary screens 232, 300 at the connection tables210, 310 may be controlled by the touch screens 212, 312 at the tableand the 5-10 additional screens in the example mentioned above may becontrolled by other devices, e.g. the central computer 1300.

The computer 250, 350 may also be connected to the internet and maydisplay a web browser or a portion thereof on the touch screen 212, 312.Information from various websites may also be displayed on the touchscreen 212, 312 or on the secondary screen 232, 330. For example,fantasy sports information may be displayed on the touch screen 212, 312and/or on a secondary screen 232, 330. If a sporting event is selectedby a user to be displayed on a secondary screen 232, 330, theninformation from a sports fantasy website that relates to the sportingevent being displayed may be then displayed on the touch screen 212, 312or on a secondary screen 232, 330.

Additionally, user's devices other than a laptop, .g., USB fobs, mp3players, and so forth, may also be directly connected to the connectioncomputer 350. For some devices, e.g., those that may play readilywithout delay from the device itself, the files may not be copied ontothe connection computer 350.

Thus, the single connection table 310 may be used to control the audioand video for the whole room 300. The connection table 310 may alsoperform all of the other functions discussed above with reference toother tables according to embodiments, e.g., ordering food, drinks, etc.If universal control of audio and video for the entire room 300 isdesired and more than one connection table 310 is provided therein,these inputs may be queued.

Queuing

If queuing is employed, a list of popular songs to be played in aparticular order may be generated as an ordinary playlist initially. Bychoosing a playlist selection on a table, the users of the table mayview this playlist on either the touch screen 312 or the secondaryscreen 330. This playlist may be a default playlist to start initially,before anyone has submitted a song to this playlist (or queue). Oncesomeone at a table chooses a media for selection m they may have theoption to submit the media selection (e.g. song, music video, movietrailer) to the playlist. If no one else in the venue has submitted aselection to the playlist, this selection may move to the top of thelist to be the next item played. Subsequent selections made by others inthe venue may be submitted to the playlist in a similar manner and thesystem can act as a jukebox with a display to show the media selectionsin the queue. Users that made a particular selection may be able tocancel the selection prior to playing (removing from the queue) orduring playing of the selection.

A voting mechanism may be applied in addition to the queue describedabove. This voting mechanism may work similar to the above, except that,in addition to the above procedure, users at tables may vote on mediaselections in the queue. If multiple votes for a particular mediaselection in the playlist are received, then this media selection may bemoved up in the queue.

A central computer, e.g., server 1300, may be used to track the votesfor particular media. The votes for media for multiple sessions in thepast may be used to generate the initial playlist. In addition, dataused by tracking the history of selections made in booths 200 withprivate screens and private sound systems within the venue may also beused to determine the initial playlist. The votes for particular mediaon the playlist can be tracked directly by the central computer. Thecomputers located at each table may be in communication with the centralcomputer 1300 and submit their selections to the central computer. Thecentral computer 1300 may then send the resulting playlist back to eachcomputer 250 at the individual tables. The central computer 1300 mayalso use the data of the selections made to find similar music to playand automatically add such similar selections to the playlist. Forexample, if the majority of the media items selected are hip-hop musicvideos, the central computer may add more hip-hop videos to theplaylist.

There is an issue with conventional jukebox systems, that sometimespeople select a few very popular songs very often. These songs then getplayed so often, that they tend to annoy others in the venue. Oneadvantage of the system described herein, is that the central computermay generate a playlist of songs and prevent songs from being played toofrequently. In addition, similar songs may be added as described above.Users at the individual tables may be able to view the playlist and voteon selections only in the playlist, rather than all the songs stored onthe computer. For example, users may be able to request adding a mediaselection to the playlist, but may only vote on moving items up on theplaylist if they are already on the playlist sent to the connect table200 as generated by the central computer 1300.

In addition to the above, there may be a room with a booth with aprivate secondary screen, but not private speakers. That is the speakersmay be configured with one set of speakers for the entire room (communalspeakers). There may be communal visual displays (televisions or LCDscreen) as well. A user at such a booth may be able to make selectionscontaining video only for display on the private display in the mannerdescribed previously. They may also be able to submit requests to theplaylist or vote on items in the playlist as described previously. Theymay also be able to make a selection referring to the communal audio andvideo (e.g., “house music video”) and cause the private display todisplay the video corresponding to the communal speakers.

Detailed Table Screen Shots

FIGS. 17A to 17I illustrate screen shots for different stages in use ofthe connection table in accordance with embodiments.

Initially, as illustrated in FIG. 17A, the touch screen 212 may beasleep and locked so that users don't accidentally trigger the screen,e.g., cause food to be ordered, or media accidentally started/ stoppedwhen something is placed on the table.

Then, when a user touches the screen, a “tap here to start” box mayappear on the screen, as illustrated in FIG. 17B. If the touch wasintentional, the user may touch the region in which the “tap here tostart” box is present. In response to such a touch, as illustrated inFIG. 17C, a “tap again” box may appear. Once the “tap again” box hasbeen touched, a home screen appear, as illustrated in FIG. 17D. Thus,reaching the full display may require two taps in a defined locationwithin a short period of time in order to view the home screen.

Additionally or alternatively, when the screen is asleep, every time thescreen is tapped, a small circle that grows in size where the tapoccurred may be displayed to cue users that the screen is active and toprovide feedback on the location where the tap was registered.

As illustrated in FIG. 17E, “My Media” and “My Plate” pop-down menus maybe included. The “My Media” menu allows a user to view the title of theaudio and/or video selections that are currently being played. The “MyMedia” menu may allow overall control of the media on the table and todisplay information. The “My Media” menu also has a “lock” feature. If amedia selection is locked, then that media selection can not beoverridden by another media selection until that media selectionconcludes or is unlocked. When a media selection is unlocked thenchoosing another media selection in the manner described previouslyresults in the new media selection to be played on the speakers and/orthe secondary screens. The “My Media” menu may allow users to adjustvolume and stop the audio and/or the video of a selection without takingup an entire quadrant of the screen and, when in the unlocked state,without locking other users from being able to select other content. The“My Media” menu allows a user to select content displayed in the audioand video sections of my media as illustrated in FIGS. 17F and 17G. Ifanother user hits a different media source, the audio and/or videocurrently being played is replaced, as well as the identification in thenow playing section in my media as long as the media is in the unlockedstate. A user may stop playback of now playing content by choosing adifferent source or hitting the x button in my media by either the audioor video section.

For example, in the entertainment section from the menu of FIG. 11,choices may include television channels, photos, and music videos. Ifone user chooses a television channel, the audio for that televisionchannel will be sent by the matrix switcher to the amplifier and thevideo to one of the secondary screens. In the “My Media” menu, thetelevision channel will be displayed in the audio section and in thevideo section. At this point the “My media” menu will indicate that theselection is unlocked if the computer is set to have unlock as thedefault selection. In this case if a user makes another selection, forexample a music video, for another media file on the computer, then thecomputer will play the media file and switch the input to the secondaryscreen to the input that is connected to the computer 350. The computer350 will also switch the input to the amplifier to the input that thecomputer is connected to and the media file, in this case the musicvideo selected, will be played throughout the room on the speakers andon the secondary screens. Subsequent selections may also change both thevideo and audio in the room as long as both the content remainsunlocked. If a user hits the x on the audio section, the amplifier inputmay be switched to an unused input so that no sound is transmitted tothe speakers, but the video will still play on the secondary screens. Inthis case, if an audio only selection is selected (e.g. a musicselection from the computer or an mp3 player music selection) then onlyaudio on the speakers will change to the selection but not the video.This may be achieved by the computer sending a signal to the amplifierto change the input to the corresponding selection, but keeping theinput on the television to the previous selection.

Once users are satisfied with their selections, the “My Media” drop downmenu illustrated in FIG. 17D may be used to lock the selection. Oncelocked, choosing another selection will not cause any change to theaudio or video until the completion of the selection. This isadvantageous, as users will often choose a media selection and then stopusing the touch screen, but continue to place objects, e.g., dishes,glassware, flatware, etc., on the table. Sometimes, these objects willtrigger media selections. Without the ability to lock media, theseobjects may inadvertently change the media being played. Once a mediaselection is locked, the pop-down menu may be closed so that at leastthree taps in three different locations on the screen would be requiredto change the selection. For example, once the “My Media” menu isclosed, media may be changed after 1) one tap to open the “My Media”menu, 2) one tap to unlock the media selection, and 3) one tap to choosea new media selection.

The “My Media” menu shows what is playing in the booth: both the audioand the video. The audio and/or the video may be blocked. The volume mayalso be controlled. The media may be placed in a lock state or an unlockstate. Thus, if both audio and video are locked, new selections will notlater what is being played. If either one is locked, then only theunlocked source will be altered. If neither is locked, the new selectionwill alter both media.

As illustrated in FIG. 17H, a hidden control panel may be included toallow a server to place the screen in 1, 2, 4 or 6 person mode, e.g., tothe 2 person mode illustrated in FIG. 17I. The default mode may be 4person mode. Additionally or alternatively, other buttons may beprovided to allow users to toggle between the various modes within asingle session.

The computer may also store various media files, e.g., photos (videoonly), songs (audio only), movies (audio and video) and music videos. Ina preferred embodiment, when a particular selection of a category ismade on the touch screen, thumbnails or small icons representing themedia in that category are displayed on the touch screen.

For example, if music videos are selected, thumbnails representing eachof the music videos stored on the computer are displayed on the touchscreen. Tapping or selecting a particular thumbnail will cause thecomputer to play that particular music video on the secondary screen andon the speakers through the amplifier.

Alternatively or additionally, selecting a particular thumbnail in asection may play that music video only in that section. The orientationof the video may have the same orientation as the corresponding sectionof the screen and be confined to play within the section. Thus, thevideo is suitable for viewing by the particular user's location andmultiple user's may each watch different videos, with each video playedwithin each user's section.

Typically, the resolution of the entire touch screen may be a standardtelevision screen resolution for example 1900×1280 pixels. Thus, if thetouch screen is in a four person mode, then each section will have onequarter of this resolution. If multiple pictures and videos aredisplayed on the touch screen simultaneously, border regions may beprovided between the media displays so that they do not interfere witheach other. For this reason, the videos or images displayed within eachsection may have a size smaller than the entire area of each section andso the resolution of each video displayed within a section willtypically be less than ¼ of the resolution of the screen.

For this reason, when a video is displayed on a touch screen, it may bedown sampled to lower resolution as it is played. If two computers areused (one for the touch screen and one for the secondary screen) thenthe videos and images on the computer that drives the touch screen canbe down sampled to occupy less storage space on the computer andfacilitate faster and more efficient playing of the videos. Either way,for this reason, it is typically easier for the computer to handleplaying of a video on the touch screen than on the secondary screen.However, the other techniques described previously (using differentprogramming threads or different processors for each section) may beused to ensure efficient smooth playing of videos on the touch screen.

Within each touch screen, there may be a button to publish the video toa secondary screen. Tapping this button may cause playing the video thatis being played within a section of the touch screen to also be playedon the secondary screen.

In this manner, the touch screen may be used to display and listinformation for the user to explore, but once selected or published,media may be actually played on a different screen. This allows the userto browse through items on the touch screen, but once a selection ismade the screen is freed up for other uses, e.g. placing plates, cupsand silverware on the screen.

This function may be further enhanced by locking the media to be playedand putting the screen to sleep. This may be realized by using the “MyMedia” drop down menu, to lock the media. Then, the “My Media” drop downmenu may be closed. At this point, no tapping on the screen can changethe media being played until the music video selected is complete orunless a “My Media” drop down menu is opened and the media file isunlocked. In addition, the touch screen 212 may be put to sleep usingthe back arrows to back out of the menu to the home screen. From there,another back button tap puts the screen in to sleep mode for additionalsecurity.

Thus, in contrast to conventional “windows” on a computer display, inwhich there is typically one window in the foreground that is “active”and the rest are in the background, sections in accordance withembodiments may be simultaneously active. In other words, tapping asection on the touch screen does not bring that section to theforeground and put others in the background, because our system isdesigned for multiusers and to have multiple sections activesimultaneously. For example, a first user may choose “eat” from the highlevel menu in a first section and be viewing the menu and tapping thescreen within this section to view information on food and to orderitems. At the same time that the first user is performing this task, asecond user may be using the interface in a second section. The seconduser may, for example, be playing a game or drawing a picture. In thiscase, when the first user taps buttons and navigates through the menu,changes to the touchscreen occur within the first section. For example,different menus are displayed within this first section. Similarly, thesecond user can tap and navigate through menu items and play games. Themenu items and video that affects the touch screen is confined for themost part within this second section. The second user can be performingthese actions at the same time the first user is performing actions inthe first section. A touch is not required to bring one to theforeground.

Having simultaneously active windows helps greatly in implementing amulti-user system. For example, if 2 taps occur within one section inquick succession, it is assumed that the 2 tapas came from the sameuser. If they occur in quick succession, the computer may be designed toreject the second tap, because it may be assumed that this was anaccident. Alternatively, the second tap could cancel the action of thefirst tap and initiate the action of the second tap. For example, if alist of navigational items (e.g. eat, drink, connect) is displayed in afirst section and a user taps a first item (e.g. “eat”) that action maycause the corresponding menu to be displayed in that section (the “eat”menu). If a second item (e.g. “connect”) is tapped quickly, during thetransition from one display within that section to another (before thesection has completed a changed in its display), the second tap maycancel the display of the information of the first item and insteaddisplay the information of the second tap. On the other hand, if these 2actions occur in different sections, then the information for each itemmay be displayed in each section. For example, if the first user taps“eat” within a first section and a second user taps “connect” within asecond section, the computer will interpret this as actions from 2different users. Therefore the eat menu can be displayed in the firstsection and the connect menu can be displayed in the second section,even if the tap in the second section occurs before the first section'sdisplay has changed. This is achieved by setting pre-defined boundariesbetween the sections that are communicated to the computer and stored inmemory prior to the occurrence of the taps.

Detailed POS Screen Shots

FIGS. 18A to 18E illustrate screen shots for different stages in use ofthe POS computer in accordance with embodiments. This separate POScomputer, e.g., the server 1300 of FIG. 13, may monitor a status of allthe tables.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 18A, two rectangles may beassociated with each table, e.g., an upper rectangle contains items thathave been ordered by the table but not yet entered in to the POS(submitted but not locked), and a bottom rectangle contains items thathave been submitted and locked. When new items are input to the separatecomputer, the upper rectangle may be highlighted, e.g., in yellow, asillustrated in FIG. 18B. Thus, a glance at the screen alerts the serversthat there is something that they need to do. After a period of time,e.g., two minutes, if the items have not been locked, the items arehighlighted in red, as illustrated in FIG. 18C. When the server hits thelock button, the items may be sent by the table computer to the POScomputer electronically. The servers may send only a portion of theorder to the POS. As most venues will not have all electronic tables,e.g., only 10% -20% of the tables may be electronic, the remainingtables may need a conventional POS.

As a further alternative, each server waiting on electronic tables maycarry a portable device, e.g., a pager, an Iphone®, or an Ipod® Touch.The information may then be sent directly to the server's portabledevice, and the server may use this portable device to send the items tothe POS or directly to the kitchen. This portable device may display thesame images as the POS computer, but may show only the tables thatserver is responsible for or may display only tables with items to beacted upon. This may reduce a number of conventional POS computersneeded, may allow servers to interact more with customers, may reducebottlenecks at the POS computers, etc.

Other Venues

While the above discussion has been focused on a restaurant, e.g., bars,night clubs, school cafeterias, any food and/or drink setting, as thevenue in which the booths/connection tables have been deployed, thesebooths/connection tables may also be deployed in other venues. Forexample, the booths/connection tables may be used in health care venues,such as hospitals, health clinics, etc., schools, e.g., classrooms,other public venues, e.g., community centers, government buildings,etc., or even private venues, e.g., members only clubs, homes, etc. Ofcourse, the options being controlled may vary accordingly.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosedherein, and although specific terms are employed, they are used and areto be interpreted in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurpose of limitation. Accordingly, it will be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multiuser, multi-interface computing surface,comprising: a computer; and a touch screen including a continuous touchdetection surface and a display, the touch detection surface configuredas a primary input to the computer, the continuous touch detectionsurface being divided into at least two simultaneously active sections,touches in the at least two simultaneously active sections havingindependent effects within the at least two simultaneously activesections, each simultaneously active section having an independentinterface configured to select distinct applications in eachsimultaneously active section, each distinct application runningseparately in each active section, wherein the computer is configuredto: perform a first action in response to a first touch in a firstsection of the at least two simultaneously active sections of the touchscreen; perform a second action in response to a second touch in asecond section of the at least two simultaneously active sections of thetouch screen without affecting the first action, even when the first andsecond touches are simultaneous; and perform a third action in responseto a third touch on the continuous touch detection surface, the thirdaction reconfiguring at least one of a number and orientation of the atleast two continuously active sections.
 2. The multiuser,multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 1, wherein thecontinuous touch detection surface is integrated into a table top. 3.The multiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 1,wherein the computer is configured to perform a fourth action in thefirst section in response to a fourth touch in the first section of thetouch screen, the fourth action replacing the first action, but notaffecting the second action.
 4. The multiuser, multi-interface computingsurface as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first touch is a continuousaction and the second touch is a tap, the tap occurring after thecontinuous action begins but before the continuous action is complete,the computer being configured to complete the second action beforecompleting the first action.
 5. The multiuser, multi-interface computingsurface as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first action includesnavigating a menu and the second action includes a continuous action. 6.The multiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 5,wherein the continuous action includes one of drawing and playing agame.
 7. The multiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimed inclaim 1, wherein an action in response to a touch within a section isconfined to that section.
 8. The multiuser, multi-interface computingsurface as claimed in claim 1, wherein the continuous detection surfaceincludes a control section configured to receive the third touch.
 9. Themultiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 1,wherein the computer is in communication with a secondary screen to beviewed at a same orientation of all users of the touch screen.
 10. Themultiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 9,wherein the computer is adapted to send media files to the secondaryscreen in response to a selection input through the continuous touchdetection surface.
 11. The multiuser, multi-interface computing surfaceas claimed in claim 10, wherein the continuous touch detection surfaceis configured to be used for navigation and the secondary screen isconfigured to display the media files sent by the computer.
 12. Themultiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 1,wherein when the third touch is in a section, the computer is configuredto rotate an orientation of that section.
 13. The multiuser,multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 1, wherein a touchin a section plays a media file in that section.
 14. The multiuser,multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 1, wherein the atleast two simultaneously active sections have user defined orientations.15. The multiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim10, wherein the touch screen is configured to display representations ofmedia files to be displayed on the secondary screen and to serve asselection input for the media files.
 16. The multiuser, multi-interfacecomputing surface as claimed in claim 10, wherein the computer has aseparate programming thread for playing media files on the secondaryscreen, the separate programming having a higher priority thanoperations of the continuous touch detection surface other than touchdetection in order to ensure continuous playing of media file on thesecondary screen.
 17. The multiuser, multi-interface computing surfaceas claimed in claim 10, wherein the selection input is a continuousaction.
 18. The multiuser, multi-interface computing surface as claimedin claim 17, wherein the continuous action is a toss.
 19. The multiuser,multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 10, wherein thecomputer is configured to play a media file, different from those on thesecondary screen, in at least one of the at least two continuouslyactive regions.
 20. The multiuser, multi-interface computing surface asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the at least two continuously activesections cover a majority of the touch screen.
 21. The multiuser,multi-interface computing surface as claimed in claim 1, wherein thedistinct applications are different applications.